Dog Days Concierge

Before working with Zorentia, Cally's main obstacle was not the idea, but how to start. As a non-technical founder, her biggest challenge was: "Cost, where to start."

She wanted "a system that is bespoke for my business needs and easy for clients to use, something that can be multiplied to other businesses."

Existing tools did not match the way Dog Days actually operates: required meet-and-greets, recurring bookings, multi-dog households, and the realities of group walk compatibility. She had a clear vision of what she wanted, but no clear, low-risk entry point into getting it built.

Cally describes the initial vision and scope discussion as: "Optimistic and expansive."

Through that conversation, Zorentia helped her distinguish between what was essential for the first version and what could come later. She notes: "Zorentia clearly outlined the need for short, simple scope on the first round of creating the program. This helped me decide what was most important now, and what could be done in future iterations."

What she particularly valued was the combination of clarity and tone: "Very simple process, explained well to layfolk like me, and supportive chats that felt less structured but delivered a great product. I really appreciated Zorentia's passion for learning about my business and that passion shows in the product delivered."

The result of this scoping was a focused first step: a bespoke booking flow tailored to Dog Days, designed to work for her current operations and be extendable in the future.

Within the pilot, Zorentia delivered the booking system Cally had hoped for: "a much easier to use booking system – so hopefully the ability to gain new clients!"

On the client side, the system allows dog owners to submit bookings in a way that is aligned with how Dog Days actually operates. On the business side, Cally highlights two things in particular: how "detailed the back end is and [how] easy to use for [the] business side," and "being able to click once for the full details of a client and dog."

From her perspective, the most significant benefit of the pilot was: "Having direct input into a bespoke creation without lots of meetings, people and cost."

Cally's plan for the MVP is straightforward: "Go live on my website, test and then update."

She feels confident using the MVP to gather initial customer feedback, and emphasises that any response will be honest and direct: "My clients are very honest – and I know most of them personally. No punches will be pulled!"

On overall value, she summarises her experience of the pilot as: "Incredible value. I've learned things about a more technical side of life, and very much appreciated the timings, and support."

Cally does not see this as a throwaway prototype. Asked whether she would rebuild from scratch or extend what she has, she responds: "Build on top."

She believes the direction they have started on compares favourably to competitors: "I've seen the dog booking systems and I know that what we have started will be able to be far more flexible, community focused and make clients want to use it. It will also be scalable in a way that will value add to franchisees!"

In other words, Cally views the current system as a strong starting point: a bespoke booking layer that reflects her current business, and a foundation she intends to extend rather than replace.